A sure thing
My mate and the landlord of the local decided to club together to buy a share in a race horse. I think they spent about £5k between them in a syndicate. There reasoning was that they really would love to be in the owner’s enclosure and have a good day out every few months. Well a few years passed and their lame mare hadn't been out of the livery. The syndicate term was up and they decided just for a crack and to say they had with conviction entered her into a race, just for the day out.

Turns out this deceptively slow horse hated training but loved a race, competitive spirit or a need to get back to the stable quicker who knows but it won by a few lengths. Anyway he won a hat full, so on return to the pub he let slip that this horse was a rocket on four legs and as the 1st outing was a great success they had all renewed their stake in the horse and it will be running in a race in two weeks.
Rumour mill circulated my small town, the “its got a good chance have an e/w bet” (33/1 by the way it was a 16 horse charge) turned into a “it can’t lose, steak as much money as you can on it”. Well the bookies cut the odds to 16-1 by the off, with over 100 people lumping on the nose for this horse to win. Bets of over £1000 were being placed and my mate was not looking forward to that night back at the pub as the odds of 33-1 were probably right and it didn’t really stand a chance.
The race was at 3.30pm and the two Pub football teams in the town were playing next to each other on opposite pitches. With some guy on the radio listening to the race between the two pitches.

Ever seen a goal celebration with out a goal being scored, on two pitches, at the same time. Well it won, as did the entire town. The local Ladbrokes wouldn’t pay up on the day as they couldn’t cover the payout.
Furnished my flat 
Length about 16 hands
(wobbler, Sun 10 May 2009, 21:00, Reply)